


Things could have gone worse

by lovelyfluffy



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, De-Aged Jesse McCree, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, Implied Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison/Reaper | Gabriel Reyes - Freeform, M/M, Sombra (Overwatch) is a Little Shit, This is mostly about McCree and Hanzo but there is some implied reaper76, a little implied sad stuff about reaper, mccree is so cute, mention of violence, possibly more Reaper76 to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2018-12-15 13:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11807319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyfluffy/pseuds/lovelyfluffy
Summary: McCree is de-aged and Hanzo needs to babysit him.





	1. Day One

“Well, I suppose things could have gone worse,” said Mercy calmly, looking down at the small body in front of her on the stretcher. She was standing in her lab, surrounded by Tracer, Lucio, Jack, Hanzo, and Hana. “When it comes to rogue witches hitting people on our team with black magic, this wasn’t that bad.”  


“Excuse me?!” yelled out Hanzo. Everyone stared at him, but he didn’t care. “McCree is a child! How could this have gone worse?”  


“Well,” said Jack, looking out the window toward nothing in particular. “He could be dead. He could have joined a terrorist organization.”  


“Jack...” said Mercy softly.  


Around them, everyone looked around the room awkwardly, too curious to leave, but feeling too uncomfortable to talk.  


Hanzo huffed, blowing some hair out of his eyes. He made a note in his head to tighten his ponytail, then crossed his arms and looked down at poor McCree.  


Unlike his usual rough-and-tumble appearance, McCree looked tiny and soft, around the age of 7. He was sleeping peacefully, with his hat leaning down over his eyes, now too large for his little head. Hanzo couldn’t help but find that cute, but he worried that McCree would never turn back into his old self, and who knew what other symptoms could come from the spell. Even McCree’s prosthetic had shrank down to a child-size one. Hanzo had never been honest with McCree about the way he felt, not that he ever planned on telling McCree that he lay awake at night thinking about the possibility of taking their friendship a bit further. Still, the idea that McCree would permanently become a child was terrifying.  


“Turn him back right now,” said Hanzo a little desperately, staring down Mercy with a glare that only a man with a dragon raging inside him could muster. “Turn him into the old McCree.”  


Mercy rolled her eyes. “Relax. He will be fine. Z’ere will not be any side effects after about two weeks. He will be good as new.” She rubbed her hands together as if she was done dealing with the situation.  


“Two weeks? But he’s a child!” Hanzo tried to make eye contact with anyone in the room, but they stubbornly looked away. “He can’t defend himself. What if something happens?”  


Lucio glided forward suddenly. “Hey,” he said as he set a firm hand on Hanzo’s shoulder. “Why don’t you just keep an eye on him? Lead the little guy around until he’s better.”  


Hanzo huffed again and started messing with his ponytail without thinking. “Why me?”  


At that, no one seemed to breathe for a moment, even Mercy, who was usually very relaxed in awkward situations.  


Lucio looked like he wanted to make an attempt at answering, so he looked over at Hana for reassurance, who nodded. “Uh. I think McCree would probably be coolest with that rather than one of us?”  


Hanzo cocked his head a little in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”  


“Just babysit him for a little while, Hanzo. It’s not that big of a deal,” said Hana. With that, everyone started to leave the room except for Mercy, who busied herself with some supplies nearby.  


On the stretcher, McCree started to wake up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, but it came out much higher than a yawn from the McCree that Hanzo knew. This was a very tiny McCree.  


“Um, McCree?” asked Hanzo.  


McCree seemed confused for a moment and tried to move his hat to fit better on his head. No matter how he moved it, though, it was still far too big for him. His brown hair was still long, but it was a little blonder, as if the color hadn’t yet fully set in. His eyes widened when he seemed to realize who Hanzo was.  


He burst off his spot on the stretcher and ran toward Hanzo, hugging him tightly. “Hanzo!” he yelled. “Hi!”  


Mercy tried her best to hide her giggles, but failed miserably.  


Hanzo stood shocked without moving.  


McCree, on the other hand, was already moving on from the hug and staring up at Hanzo with a huge smile. He was still the same charming McCree, but so much smaller.  


“Can we train today Hanzo please?” He reached toward the counter where Peacekeeper sat untouched since the earlier battle with the witch.  


Mercy grabbed away the gun and locked it in a drawer, making McCree glare at her.  


“McCree, sweetheart.” She leaned down toward him. “For the next couple weeks, I don’t think there should be any training, okay?” She was speaking to Hanzo as much as she was talking to McCree, trying to make sure he understood the arrangement as well. “And definitely NO weapons. It’s not very safe.”  


McCree gasped and looked between the two of them, betrayed. “WHaaaat? But missy, I need to train with Hanzo.” He still had his southern drawl, but his voice as a whole was smaller and higher pitched.  


Hanzo said nothing, still shocked by the whole situation. Before he could take any action, Hanzo saw something he soon hoped to never see again in his life. McCree frowned at him and his eyes quickly welled up with tears. His puppy dog pout was disrupted by small hiccups as he started to truly cry. He looked like he’d just seen the world end. It was the most innocent, vulnerable moment Hanzo had ever seen.  


That was when Hanzo finally felt his old instincts kick in. When Hanzo was eight years old, he’d seen a five year old Genji cry and had quickly cheered him up so that they wouldn’t be punished by their parents. He hoped he could channel that skill again.  


Hanzo leaned down and put his hands on McCree’s shoulders. “McCree, it’s okay. When you’re big again, we’ll train all the time. I promise.”  


McCree let out a sob. “Y-You’re lyin.” The little boy was barely able to breathe between his hiccups and cries. He balled his hands into two tiny fists by his sides.  


“I am not lying. We will train plenty together when you are big again and that will be in just two weeks.”  


Mercy watched them closely with a big grin. “He’s right, McCree,” she said. “And when you’re big again, I will give you back your gun.”  


McCree looked longingly at the drawer where his gun was locked away. “I guess… I guess that’s okay. Y’all will watch over it until I get it back, right? Don’t let anyone shoot it.” He glared dramatically. “ESPECIALLY Junkrat! He’ll blow it up.”  


“Of course. No one will touch your gun until you’re big again.” Mercy laughed and showed him the key. “I’m putting it in my pocket so no one can get in there.”  


McCree seemed satisfied with this because he was already pulling on Hanzo’s arm to leave. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”  


Mercy was still laughing when Hanzo and McCree made it down the hallway to the kitchens. Word had spread to the rest of the team about McCree’s temporary situation and everyone seemed to want to give him some space for a while so they wouldn’t confuse him. Hanzo wasn’t sure himself what type of memories McCree had at the moment or how he was processing his surroundings.  


Even if he didn’t know exactly what was going on, he did remember just fine how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Hanzo had to stop him from pouring a glass of whiskey to go with it. McCree happily took milk as a replacement.  


While sitting at the table, Hanzo felt a strange sadness wash over him. If McCree was anything like the others in Overwatch, he probably didn’t have much of a childhood. This innocent McCree sitting in front of Hanzo who was smiling and eating a PB&J was probably seeing some darker things when McCree was really that age. The thought made Hanzo shiver.  


“Hey, Hanzo? When is my dad gonna come back?”  


Hanzo’s mouth gaped open. “Your.. father?” He didn’t remember McCree ever mentioning a father to him before and the thought of explaining that he was probably dead didn’t really sound appealing.  


“Yeah, my dad. I don’t know where he is, but he went away. He’s gonna come back though. I know it.” This didn’t seem to be a hard conversation for McCree, but rather something casual that he’d thought about many times and had been waiting to ask someone.  


“I’m sorry McCree, I don’t -”  


“Well, well,” came a voice from the doorway. “You seem to be doing fine as a babysitter, Hanzo.” It was Jack. He made his way across the room to the refrigerator and started to pull things out.  


McCree leaned across the table toward Hanzo as far as he could reach and whispered, “I think he knows where my dad is.”  


“What do you mean?” Hanzo regretted asking before McCree even started to answer.  


McCree pointed at Soldier 76 excitedly. “Jack’s my dad’s boyfriend. If anyone knows when he’s coming back, he does. My dad’s hunting or something with a spider-lady but he’s gonna come back. Right Jack?”  


Jack’s shoulders tensed and he left his food on the counter, walking straight out of the room.  


Hanzo sat, eyes wide while McCree obliviously continued to eat his sandwich.  


“My dad really loves him, but he’s moody. They have that in common,” he added.  


“McCree, I don’t…” He didn’t even know where to start. Were Gabriel and Jack in a relationship before the recall? It made sense in retrospect that Gabriel was a father figure to McCree considering he taught him most of what he knew and he offered him a position in Blackwatch rather than prison. Still, it was sad that this was the way McCree was thinking of him with his new childish mindset. Reaper had never shown any signs of seeking redemption or wanting to return to Overwatch.  
McCree finished his sandwich, but he still had milk left in the glass. “I’ll take this with me. Let’s go play somewhere.” McCree pulled Hanzo’s hand.  


Running out into the hall, McCree ran smack into Genji, who found himself drenched in the milk. Luckily, his circuitry was unaffected, but he wiped himself off gently, walking away quickly, giving Hanzo the feeling that most of the agents on base were still trying to avoid little McCree so as not to confuse him.  


McCree looked up at Hanzo with a panic in his eyes. “Hanzo oh no!”  


“What is it McCree? What’s wrong?” He wanted nothing less in the whole world right now than to see McCree cry again.  


“I think I messed up! I messed up bad!”  


“What did you do?”  


McCree pulled his hat back over his eyes, which was barely staying on the back of his head without bucketing over his entire face.  


“Genji’s never going to be my friend now.”  


“Genji?” Hanzo scratched the back of his head. This was just one confusing experience after another.  


“I want Genji to be my friend and he’ll never be my friend now that I covered him in milk! He’s gonna hate me now!”  


“Aww, McCree. I don’t think Genji thought a thing of it. He’s a strong cyborg ninja. They say to never cry over spilled milk, you know.”  


“But it’s important that he likes me.” McCree stomped a foot on the ground.  


“Why is it so important that Genji likes you?”  


“Well, I can’t tell ya exactly.”  


Hanzo almost felt a little hurt. Did McCree have some secret obsession with his brother? Why would it matter if Genji liked him or not? McCree quickly seemed to sense his distress because he pulled Hanzo’s big hand with his little prosthetic one until they were both sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway.  


“I just want Genji to like me is all,” he said quietly. “Because…”  


“Yes?”  


McCree looked at the ground, seemingly ashamed of himself. Then he looked up at Hanzo for a moment with big round eyes showing all white around his irises. Curling himself into a ball, he rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands.  


“Because Genji’s your family, darlin’. And I want your family to like me. We were in Blackwatch, but I dunno. He might hate me for all I know.”  


Hanzo blushed. McCree had never called Hanzo ‘darlin’ before. He wondered if it was because he was a kid or because this was how McCree usually thought about him. “Don’t worry, McCree. I think Genji likes you just fine.”  


“Do you reckon?”  


“Yes. I… reckon.”  


McCree giggled. “It’s funny when you talk like me.” Still full of energy, he took off in a run. “C’mon! Let’s race!”  


“McCree, no! I don’t think that’s safe. Come back!” He chased after McCree, but he was surprisingly fast for a child and he could dart through smaller spaces than Hanzo could. 

Just as he started to lose sight of him, he heard McCree laughing hard.  


He turned a corner to see Hana tickling McCree while Lucio took photos of them on her phone.  


“This is so cute!” yelled out Lucio. “I know we were trying to keep our distance, but McCree’s adorable as a little kid!”  


It was true. Hanzo couldn’t help staring at the cute little giggling McCree. It was delightful to see him so happy, fighting to keep his hat on. Even as a 7 year old, he never wanted to leave his hat.  


McCree broke free from Hana’s arms suddenly and ran back to Hanzo. “I think I won the race,” he said.  


Hanzo couldn’t help smiling. “I think you did.”  


Then McCree was frowning again. “Hanzo…”  


“What is it?”  


“I’m sleepy. Could we take a nap?”  


Genji appeared in the hall nearby. “Aww,” he said with a smirk.  


“Shut up, Genji,” replied Hanzo.  


“Come on, brother. You must admit that is cute.”  


“Hi Genji!” said McCree quickly. “How are ya?”  


Genji was snickering as he walked toward them. “I’m doing great, McCree. Take care of Hanzo today, will you?”  


McCree looked serious and determined all of a sudden. He reached up and put a hand on Genji’s arm, squeezing it reassuringly. “Of course. I always will.”  


Then Lucio and Hana chimed in on the “Aww!” Peeking out of a doorway was Lena, who had tears in her eyes. Genji was laughing so hard he could barely speak.  


Hanzo had never blushed more. 

He pulled McCree up in his arms. “Go ahead and go to sleep McCree. I’ll take you to your bed.” He glared over McCree’s shoulder at the onlookers who scurried away in different directions. However, Hanzo could tell that the second he started walking away with McCree in his arms, Hana, Lucio, Lena, and even Genji were all taking photos behind him. This was going to be embarrassing for both of them at some later time when McCree was big again. He was sure of that.  


Still, for now, he was happy to see McCree looking peaceful and happy asleep in his arms. For just two more weeks, he would do everything he could to make sure McCree got to have some kind of childhood.


	2. Day two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo experiences day two of babysitting tiny McCree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to make this a series. :) I have more plans for tiny McCree and Hanzo. I've updated the tags slightly.

Any thought of avoiding McCree at this point was completely dismissed. Every person on the base wanted to see the mini gunslinger. McCree’s charm increased two fold as a kid, running around the base playing games and asking questions that were downright adorable. Hanzo followed him carefully, still mildly paranoid that McCree would be attacked somehow. 

McCree, on the other hand, couldn’t care less that he was suddenly tiny. He woke up early on the second day of his temporary childhood and ran into Hanzo’s room, just about scaring the man to death. 

“Morning Hanzo!” he shouted. “What are we gonna do today, darlin?”

Hanzo, only half awake, sat straight up and yelped. Not only was he not used to a tiny McCree, but he was still not used to being called ‘darlin’ either. 

McCree was giggling up a storm at seeing Hanzo get so frightened by him. 

“McCree,” said Hanzo quietly, rubbing his eyes. “You’re up early.”

“The early bird eats the worm! And anyway, I thought maybe today we could do something kinda fun.”

“What sounds fun to you?”

McCree thought about it for a moment. “Well…” He looked away and pulled his hat off, revealing his blonde hair lightly curled from just getting out of bed. He ran his fingers over the brim of the hat gently. “Maybe, we could train today?” It was clear that he knew he wasn’t supposed to ask that, because he looked guilty and wide eyed, but desperate nonetheless. 

“I’m sorry McCree, but remember what Mercy said to you in the lab? No training until you’re all better.”

Suddenly McCree climbed into Hanzo’s bed next to him and leaned a head on his shoulder, wrapping his arms around Hanzo’s waist. His small prosthetic barely reached around Hanzo’s side. A frown pulled his face down. “I miss trainin. I miss Peacekeeper.”

Hanzo smiled down at him. “Sometimes when Genji was your age, he would ask my mother over and over to let him practice fighting outside of our training times. He would try to attack me and would be restless around the clock, never at peace. My mother would set him down with some paper and tell him to draw. How about we try that?” He wasn’t sure if this would work, but it always did the trick with Genji. 

“I like drawin,” said McCree happily. “I have some things in my room. Let’s go!” 

“Easy, easy. How about breakfast first, then we can draw?” Hanzo was still in his sleepwear and half asleep, so he wasn’t really ready for arts and crafts with mini McCree at this hour.

“Okay,” McCree replied. “You get dressed and I’ll meet you at the kitchen.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” 

Just as fast as he entered the room, McCree was dashing out again. Hanzo watched him go before closing the door and getting dressed. Maybe he was being crazy thinking that something would happen to McCree. Even though he was small, he was fast and seemed to take care of himself just fine. 

Finally ready to go to the kitchen, he walked down the winding hallway to the double metal doors, but McCree was not there. He felt a panic wash over him, quickly at first like a wave crashing, then slowly getting worse like he was drowning. 

“McCree?” He shouted into the hallway. No one answered him. He picked up into a run. “McCree! Where are you?”

Lena popped her head out of a doorway with wide eyes. “Everything alright love?” 

“Find McCree,” was his only reply. 

Lena took off, darting through the halls, appearing at each doorway to look inside briefly. She ran around the corner with Hanzo right behind her. Then, she was out of sight, popping through the hall until Hanzo couldn’t see her anymore. He continued the chase, sweat running down from his temple. 

He knew he shouldn’t have left McCree alone. He tried to quickly think through the possibilities of what might have happened to him. He could have ran outside for some reason only to be kidnapped by Talon, he could have broken into the drawer in the lab to get Peacekeeper and then accidentally shot himself, or maybe McCree running around scared another agent who pulled a weapon on him by mistake. 

Lena darted back to him with a huge smile on her face. “You have to see this,” she said. 

“Where is he, Lena?” 

Lena could hardly hold back her laughter. “Follow me.” 

Hanzo hurried behind her, struggling to keep up with her skips through the hall. 

When they arrived at Winston’s quarters, Lena took a step back and held the door open for Hanzo. The sight in front of them was one that neither of them would ever forget. In the middle of Winston’s room was Winston, running around the room with McCree on his back as if Winston were a horse. 

“Hi Lena!” shouted McCree from his spot in the room. 

“McCree?” said Hanzo. “Why did you go to Winston’s room? Did you forget about breakfast?”

Winston was laughing, the weight of McCree on his back hardly noticeable to him. “I’m told,” he said as he pushed up his glasses. “That Agent McCree would like banana pancakes for breakfast, so naturally he thought I would be the best uh, individual to make them for him.” 

Lena fell on the floor, clutching her sides while she laughed. 

McCree jumped off Winston’s shoulders to the ground. “Can we have pancakes now?” 

Winston smiled and nodded. “Of course, Agent McCree.”

********

After having breakfast with the majority of Overwatch, who all wanted to witness Winston making banana pancakes, McCree dragged Hanzo by the arm to his room. He definitely did not forget about their plan to draw. 

“I have some pencils and things in the drawer,” said McCree. “I’ll get em.” 

It was interesting for Hanzo to see the inside of McCree’s room up close. He’d never really spent any time here and he’d never thought this would be the context under which he would see it. It was a surprisingly well organized room for someone so gruff, but the bed was not made and an ashtray sat nearby with half a bottle of whiskey. When McCree was looking away, Hanzo stashed them in the closet on the highest shelf where McCree couldn’t reach them. He shivered at the thought that little McCree might have used either last night when he went to bed. 

What McCree brought out was considerably more professional than Hanzo had expected. He had a black leather covered sketch book with artist pens and sharpened pencils, as well as various types of charcoal and erasers. McCree had never told Hanzo that he had any passion for drawing. 

The two of them sat on the edge of McCree’s bed while McCree drew. Hanzo hummed slightly. 

“What did you draw?” he asked. 

McCree held up the drawing and Hanzo couldn’t help but smile. It was Winston, flailing in his room, with Lena laughing on the floor while Hanzo stood nearby with his arms wide, smiling. Next to Hanzo’s head was a tiny heart. The drawing looked typical for a seven year old with the proportions all wrong and Winston looking more horse than monkey. 

Hanzo took the book from his hands. “Do you mind if I look at your other drawings?” he asked. It was selfish of him, taking advantage of the fact that the small McCree might share something with him that adult McCree might not want to share. He almost retracted his request as the guilt started to set in, but McCree was smiling brightly. 

“Sure, that’s fine, darlin. But my drawings ain’t that good.” He was blushing. “They’re kinda awful actually.”

Hanzo flipped through a few pages and was immediately shocked. “McCree… These are incredible.” 

Hyper-realistic portraits on the entire team covered most of the pages, followed immediately by several drawings of Hanzo himself. In one image, Hanzo was aiming his bow on the edge of a building with his brow furrowed, focusing. In another, he was fixing his ponytail with both hands behind his head. 

McCree scratched at his prosthetic, frowning a little. “You don’t have to lie, Hanzo. They ain’t anything special.” He suddenly took the book from him and shoved it back in his drawer. 

“Seriously. You are very talented, McCree. I’ve never seen drawings like those before.” 

McCree punched him in the arm, playfully. “Well, you’re sweet as sugar.” He pulled the book back out and flipped to a new page, starting to draw again. “Can you tell me more about your mama?” 

Maybe Hanzo wasn’t the only one who was going to benefit from this situation. Hanzo rarely spoke about his family to anyone aside from Genji, and his memories of the Shimada clan were mostly dark. Still, seeing the little blonde boy looking up at him with big eyes and a fond smile, it was hard to resist telling him anything he wanted to know. 

“She was a kind woman. She understood the pressure on me and my brother and she tried her best to keep us from becoming monsters.” He wasn’t sure what type of memories McCree had of Hanzo’s history with Genji, but he had a feeling that he didn’t remember the full picture.

McCree nodded while he continued to draw. “I bet it was mighty hard for ya, leaving everything behind like that. But you don’t need to feel guilty.” 

Hanzo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Maybe McCree did remember everything. “That’s nice of you to say, McCree.” 

McCree held up the picture he was drawing, to reveal a woman with long hair made with black charcoal. “That’s what I think she looked like,” he said quietly. 

“You are exactly right.” Hanzo’s eyes felt wet. He rubbed them with his arm. “That’s what she looked like.”

McCree shut the sketch book again, then hesitated for a moment before reopening it and ripping out the page with the drawing of Hanzo’s mother. “This one’s for you. You should keep it.” He gave him a toothy grin and Hanzo was flooded with memories of McCree that he loved; becoming flustered by McCree’s jokes during training, sitting in a peaceful silence with him while he drank his tea in the morning, and talking with him during missions while they waited for orders. He felt a small pang of sadness at the thought of adult McCree. Even though Mercy assured him that things would be back to normal in two weeks, he still worried about things going wrong and McCree being stuck at this age forever.

“Thank you.” Hanzo folded the paper and put it in his pocket. 

Genji stuck his head in the door slowly, but it was obvious to both Hanzo and McCree. 

“Hello, brother,” he said nonchalantly. “Having fun?” 

“Genji-”

“We’re having lots of fun,” McCree answered for him. 

Genji laughed. “That’s great, McCree. I’m glad for you. How about we hang out for a bit McCree? Just you and me?” 

Hanzo stood up, glaring at him. “Brother. Now is not the time for one of your pranks. This is a vulnerable time for McCree.” 

“HEY, Hanzo!” yelled out McCree, startling both of the Shimada brothers. “I’ll be fine. I wanna hang out with Genji.” 

Hanzo sighed. “Please brother. Whatever you are doing, just stop.” 

“You heard the little guy, Hanzo. He’ll be fine.” He grabbed McCree’s hand and took him into the hallway. When Hanzo tried to follow them, McCree ran back to push him away. 

“Darlin, I like spendin time with you, I do. But I’m gonna hang out with Genji for a little. He’s gotta know that I’m strong enough to protect you and what not, so you can’t be followin’ me.”

“But I don’t think-”

“We’ll be okay.” He ran away after Genji.

“I’ll bring him back later!” called the younger Shimada and Hanzo could hear the taunting in his voice. 

He had no idea that McCree felt this strongly about trying to impress Genji. Apparently there was some part of McCree that really cared about Hanzo, which made him feel like his stomach was doing flips. The wait for Genji to return McCree seemed like hours when in reality it was only about 45 minutes before the tiny gunslinger was running back to Hanzo’s side. 

“Miss me, darlin?” he asked with a wink.

Genji snickered and walked away.

Hanzo kneeled down on eye level in front of McCree. “What did he say to you?”

McCree made a motion as if zipping his lips. “Can’t tell ya.” 

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s important.” He looked serious. 

Hanzo hunched over and groaned. “Fine. Don’t tell me.” 

“Hey now, don’t be that way,” said McCree, a little desperately. 

Hanzo figured it was probably some kind of prank, but honestly he didn’t even really want to know. “Okay. Let’s forget about it.” 

As the day went on, Hanzo tried as hard as he could to keep McCree entertained, but during dinner he still had more questions about Gabriel that Hanzo was unable to answer. 

“If Jack misses my dad, why doesn’t he just go get him?” 

“I’m not sure, McCree.” 

Hanzo avoided any explanation of Talon, but he wondered what exactly McCree was thinking about it, since he seemed to remember the Shimada clan’s history just fine. 

“Why doesn’t Jack talk about my dad? And why is avoiding me?” 

Hanzo put his face in his hands. “McCree, I’m sorry, but I don’t know the answers to any of these questions.” 

“Well um,” he said, clearly discouraged. “Do you think that my dad is proud of me?”

The sight of the tiny gunslinger sitting in a chair that was much too large for him with a frown and tears budding in his eyes was enough to make Hanzo’s chest hurt.

He leaned forward and pushed one of the boy’s blonde curls behind his ear. “I think he’s very proud of you.” It was a total lie. He had no idea how Reaper felt and had no knowledge of his relation to McCree, but it was enough to make him wipe away the tears and finish his dinner. 

When it was time for McCree to go to bed, McCree stood in the doorway awkwardly. “Hanzo, wait,” he said as he reached out for his hand. “Could um, maybe I sleep in your bed? I’m scared.”

“What are you scared of, McCree?”

“Um… monsters?”

He smiled and scooped McCree up in his arms, walking toward his own room. “Sure, McCree. That’s fine.” 

He let him lay down first and fall asleep, while Hanzo sat in a chair nearby where he planned on spending the rest of the night. He didn’t want to crowd him in his small bed and the whole situation seemed a little bit strange considering the circumstances. Again, this was not the context under which he ever thought McCree would end up in his bed…

Eventually, Hanzo did fall asleep in the chair, only to wake up around 3am. He was sweating and his heart was beating fast. It was another nightmare about his past with Genji. Every one of his muscles tensed. He gripped the chair on both sides as hard as he could. 

But as he gasped for air, there was McCree, putting his tiny hand on Hanzo’s arm to ground him. Hanzo smiled. “Back to bed, McCree.” McCree frowned, but climbed back on the mattress. They were both asleep again within minutes. 

In the morning, a realization dawned on Hanzo. As they walked toward Winston’s room to ask for more banana pancakes, he looked down at McCree who was bouncing alongside him. 

“Genji told you about my nightmares, didn’t he? That’s why you wanted to sleep in my room.”

McCree stopped in his tracks. “Maybe. Are you mad?”

It was actually very kind of Genji, despite the fact that it was not his information to share with anyone.

“No I’m not mad. You did a great job helping me through it.” 

“Really?” He pulled Hanzo into a big hug. 

“Really.”


	3. Day three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things have been great for Hanzo and tiny McCree so far. 
> 
> Now it's time for things to go wrong.

After breakfast, McCree was adamant about drawing again. “I have an idea,” he said excitedly. “Let’s draw people training. I know you won’t let me train, but I at least wanna watch.”

Hanzo weighed this in his mind for a moment. “Well, I suppose that’s okay, McCree, but we have to keep our distance.” 

McCree nodded and turned around to run to his room. “I’ll be right back, darlin! I’m gonna get my pencils.” 

Hanzo smiled. McCree was very easy to watch. He rarely got upset and he’d been endlessly cute the past few days. As much as he missed adult McCree, this situation wasn’t so bad for the time being.

He stood in the hallway for a few minutes, waiting for the tiny gunslinger to return, but a few minutes turned into ten, which turned into fifteen. Hanzo wasn’t nervous yet, though, because he knew McCree had a tendency to get distracted on his way somewhere. He remembered the incident with Winston in the morning just one day before. However, when another ten minutes passed, it finally started to seem like too much. 

He felt a little embarrassed having lost McCree after yesterday, but the only thing that mattered now was finding him. Hanzo went straight to Lena’s room. 

“Could you help me look for McCree again?”

Lena giggled. “Sure thing, love!” She took off, popping through the halls again, but this time, it didn’t stop. She raced in and out of rooms, down to the medical lab, through Winston’s quarters, and when she arrived back in front of Hanzo, he was practically shaking. 

“Where is he?” Hanzo asked, but Lena shrugged, a panic setting in on her face.

“I can’t find him anywhere. I checked the whole building.”

Hanzo didn’t bother saying anything else to Lena, taking off toward Jack’s room. 

Jack was sitting on his bed looking through an old photo album when Hanzo found him. All of the Overwatch agents were used to finding Jack this way.

“What?” snapped Jack, throwing the photo album on the floor. 

“It’s McCree. He’s gone.”

Jack wasted no time. He pulled out his com device and contacted all of the Overwatch agents, sending out word that everyone needed to look for him. Throughout the whole base, people started searching their rooms and the halls for little McCree.  
The only reply was from Mercy. 

“Jack,” she said on the com. “I’m afraid it’s an emergency.”

Hanzo balled his hands into fists. “Where is he?”

“Our medical systems have been hacked by an outside force.” Mercy sounded frantic. “I do not know what it is, but I - I think it might be Talon.”

Jack swore under his breath, then got back on the com. “All agents suit up and meet in the med lab. NOW.” 

***********************

“Please stop talking to me, Jesse McCree,” said Amelie calmly. She rolled her eyes and slammed on the accelerator. It was just an SUV, so they could be inconspicuous, but the engine was rigged to go faster than normal. “You are just bait. Nothing else.” 

“I’ll stop talkin when you tell me where we’re going. I know who you are, spider-lady.” McCree pouted. 

The corner of Amelie’s mouth twitched up in a smirk. “I prefer Widowmaker, thank you. And if you do not shut your trap, I will have to kill you before we even get to Reaper.”

“Reaper? You mean we get to see my dad?!” McCree started bouncing in his seat. “I wish I brought Hanzo. They’ve gotta meet!” 

Amelie’s mouth dropped open. She never, ever lost her cool in any situation. She was always strong, always mysterious, and always detached, but this news was almost unbelievable. “Wait, what did you say?” She stared at him for a moment. He looked nothing like Gabriel. 

“Yeah, Reaper is a name my dad uses sometimes I think. I dunno. I’ve been trying to figure the whole thing out. Aren’t you guys hunting together or something?” He scratched at the leather on the door handle.

“I suppose you could call it that.” She tried to remember anything Gabriel might have said about a lover in his past, but he usually kept to himself. According to the stolen medical records, this man’s real age before black magic interference was probably around 35 years old or so. She tried to connect the dots. How old was Gabriel when his lover had this child? And who was the mother? “We are almost there,” she said, hoping that the little boy would stop being so restless. “Then you can talk to your… father.”

“Great!” said McCree, and he finally started to calm down. “So.” He blew some hair out of his eyes and pulled his hat off to play with it. “What’s your family like?” 

Amelie froze for a moment before glaring at him. “That is none of your business.” 

McCree rolled his eyes. “Yeesh, well it’s mighty fine if you wanna keep that private, miss. I just thought I’d make a little conversation seein’ as we’re riding together.” He sighed. 

**********

The whole base gathered around the hacked computers, attempting to strategize. Some of the agents were operating on a different sleep schedule and looked exhausted, but McCree’s absence was hitting everyone hard. Jack stepped forward. “It’s Reaper. I know he’s behind this.”

“But how do you know?” asked Mercy. “It’s probably Talon, but we have no proof yet and-” 

“Because I know it is!” yelled Jack, silencing the room full of agents. He looked away from them. “He has a history with McCree from Blackwatch and this was the perfect opportunity for him to get back at me.” He put his hands over his face, pressing hard on his visor. “I’ll need to handle this one myself.” 

“I’ll cover you,” said Hanzo. He was ready to leave the room right then, already grasping a handful of arrows and loading them on his back. 

“No, this is my mission.” Jack stood up and walked toward the door. “Stay here, Hanzo. That’s an order.” 

Hanzo looked down at his hands and then around at the room, all of the agents watching him carefully. Overwatch was his home and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. He’d accepted the concept of following orders from Jack, but in this case, he just couldn’t go along with it. “I apologize, but I must accompany you on this mission. McCree was under my care when he went missing, and I have to get him back.” 

Jack didn’t even turn around. “Are you disobeying an order?” 

The room seemed to be frozen in time. A space had opened by the door where everyone had backed away from Jack and Hanzo. 

“Are you aware,” continued Jack, practically growling, “that disobeying an order could lead to your removal from Overwatch?” His low voice was echoing off the walls, even though he wasn’t very loud. 

“But-” Hanzo got down to his knees and bowed his head, a single tear escaping his eye. “I must do this.” He was reaching a breaking point. “I care very much about Jesse McCree.” 

With that, Jack’s shoulders relaxed and he finally faced Hanzo, extending a hand out to him. Jack spoke very quietly then. “I know what it’s like to fight for someone I care about. You better be careful on this mission.” 

Ana, who had been standing quietly with Pharah through this entire exchange, left the crowd of agents to go to Jack’s side. Only Hanzo was close enough to hear her say, “Even if he’s not coming back, he’s still Gabriel underneath it all, Jack. Don’t forget that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just find the idea of Widowmaker not understanding the whole "dad" thing very funny. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Hostage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talon brings home their hostage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your support and lovely comments. I'm finally back to continue updating this.

When McCree and Amelie arrived at Talon headquarters, Amelie lifted McCree out of his seat in the car and set him down on the ground. Sombra was waiting for them.

“Hola, little one!” she shouted to McCree, ready to have some fun with the tiny Overwatch agent. This was all too rich in Sombra’s eyes. 

McCree ran toward her as if expecting her to have a gift for him like some kind of visiting relative. 

“I like your hair!” said McCree shyly. “It’s mighty beautiful, miss.” 

Sombra patted him on the head and smiled. “And I like your hat, though it’s a little big for you, isn’t it? My name is Sombra.” She looked over at Amelie, who was unloading some weapons she’d packed for the kidnapping trip (just in case). 

“My name’s Jesse, but you can call me McCree if ya like. Do you work with my dad?” 

Sombra quirked an eyebrow at him. “Your dad? What-”

“Something tells me,” said Amelie as she walked right past them through the double metal doors. “That you are really going to enjoy this day.”

*****************************************************************************************************

Hanzo was trying hard to come up with a plan the second that he and Jack left the rest of the team. Jack was running fast toward the garage, but Hanzo didn’t understand how they’d even know where to find McCree. 

“Hey,” shouted Hanzo while they ran. “Don’t we need to get someone to track them somehow? Maybe Mei could look at a history of their locations and make some estimates as to where we could start looking.” 

Jack didn’t answer and kept running until he got to a large van-like Overwatch vehicle and jumped inside. Hanzo followed suit. It was only after Jack had the keys in the ignition that he finally turned toward Hanzo. 

“I know where they are,” he said gruffly. 

“What? How do you know?” Hanzo was confused. If Jack knew where Talon was this whole time, why didn’t he just tell everyone?

Jack stared straight into the distance and pulled the car out of the garage at top speed. “I’ve been tracking him.”

“You’ve been tracking McCree?”

“I’ve been tracking Reaper.”

“You mean Gabriel?” asked Hanzo.

“Reaper.”

Even though the car was going 100 in a 45 zone, it felt like they were in slow motion the entire ride. Hanzo’s mind was flooded with images of McCree being tortured. For all he knew, McCree was at the center of one of Moira’s experiments, having his DNA ripped apart and rebuilt like Gabriel’s. McCree wouldn’t understand anything that was going on and would probably hand himself over willingly to any cruel things that the minds of Talon came up with.

********************************************************************************************************

“Okay, ready? I’ll go over there and talk to your dad and then when I give the go ahead, you press this button right here to stop being invisible and run up to your dad for a hug.” Sombra handed McCree a small device with only one button. 

McCree looked nervous. “My daddy hasn’t seen me in a long time. Are you sure he won’t be mad at me or somethin?” He peered his tiny head up above the box they hid behind, but he couldn’t see Gabriel. “Sometimes I feel like he left his boyfriend because of me.” His pout had exceeded cute and gone straight to adorable. 

“His boyfriend? What? Wait a minute! You have to tell me every single thing about that right now.” Sombra reached in her pocket, hoping to have candy or something to entice the little cowboy because at this point her expertise was increasing exponentially in the field of making Gabe’s life hell.

McCree looked down at the ground and then suddenly forward at Sombra. “We’re invisible right now and when I press it it’ll go away, right?” 

“That’s right, but-”

McCree was running as fast as he could toward Gabriel and all Sombra could do was watch it all unfold. When McCree reached the looming dark figure, he pressed the button and yelled “HI!” while trying to wrap his arms around him. 

Gabriel had not been expecting this and of course pulled out both of his guns. Sombra ran out of the shadows and dove in front of McCree, yelling, “Wait!”

“What the hell is going on?” asked Gabriel. “Is that-?”

McCree ran out from behind Sombra and glared at her. “I told you he hasn’t seen me in a long time and now I’ve messed it all up!” He plopped himself down on the floor and started sobbing, leaving Gabriel to stand in front of this debacle with his mouth hanging open. 

Sombra had never thought of herself as the motherly type, but she pulled McCree into her arms and patted him on the back while he cried. 

“Jeez Gabriel. The least you could have done is tell us you had a son. What a poor father you are.” She lifted McCree’s chin. “It’s going to be okay. Your dad is just loco is all.”

“Sombra, leave. Immediately,” he barked. “No games. Just leave.” 

Sombra tossed the device to Gabriel and rolled her eyes. “Fine! But don’t take it out on me that you aimed a gun at your own son!” 

“HE’S NOT MY SON!” shouted Gabriel. 

McCree stopped crying and stared at him. The large metal room with all its computers and gadgets suddenly seemed very small to everyone inside. Sombra hurried away, knowing she’d get the details later.

Gabriel put his hands over his mask and breathed deeply. “Jesse. This is just a spell. You’re usually an adult. You know that, right?”

“I’m not as dumb as I look,” said McCree, pouting again. 

Gabriel sighed. He thought this would be a simple hostage situation. “Then what do you know?”

“I know that you, spider-lady, and the mean version of Mercy are all hunting something. Um, also Sombra I guess.” He stood as if sizing Gabriel up, despite being less than half his height. “I know you love Jack very much but for some reason you’re really sad and you left and you turned kinda different but also you’re the same. And-” His lip quivered. “I know it’s all my fault because I didn’t turn out how you wanted.”

“That’s not it at all,” said Gabriel quietly, for once not looking so angry. Despite wearing a mask, it was easy to read his body language, even for McCree.

 

“Fine, yes, her name is Amelie or whatever not spider-lady but it would sound a lot more like a super hero if she went by spider-lady!” McCree put his hands on his hips. “I may not have the little things right, but I have the big picture.”

“Apparently you don’t,” said Gabriel. He got on one knee and pulled off his mask, revealing his scarred, ghostly face. He had a feeling this would be the end of the conversation.

McCree didn’t even flinch. Instead he took a step forward. “I’m sorry I didn’t turn out right,” he whispered. 

Gabriel set a hand on McCree’s shoulder. His chest ached, but he couldn’t let himself feel too much. He figured he might as well be honest with the kid. “You turned out just fine. None of this is your fault. It’s all mine. I’m… I’m proud of you. You’ll need to remember that for what’s about to happen to you. I don’t have any intention of hurting you, but remember what I said.”

“Are you gonna come home?” asked McCree.

Gabriel frowned. This was hitting him harder than he thought it would “There’s more to the story than that, Jesse. I don’t think Jack- I don’t think they’d ever take me back after the things I’ve done.” He stood up and took Jesse’s hand, leading him to a lab chair nearby. “Now why don’t you just stay here, okay? I have to have a talk with Sombra now.” As he walked away, he mumbled, “God I hope they were smart enough to take Peacemaker from him…”

“But you want to come back, right?” yelled McCree.

That stopped Gabriel in his tracks, but he didn’t answer.


End file.
